


The Confrontation

by Talvin



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, Heavy Angst, Identity Reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-13
Updated: 2019-08-13
Packaged: 2020-08-20 07:50:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20224375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Talvin/pseuds/Talvin
Summary: The whole world saw Gabriel Agreste being arrested for his crimes as Hawkmoth.But Chat Noir wants to ask him a question before they take him away.(One of my old Tumblr stories, ported over to AO3.)





	The Confrontation

The battle was over. The war was...won? Cameras flashed and reporters spoke rapidly into their microphones as the Gendarmes led Hawkmoth to the waiting van. 

Hawkmoth. Gabriel Agreste. The richest man in Paris, and one of the most respected, was the villain who had terrorized them all with magic. The city was in shock. 

Even their beloved heroes were affected by it. Ladybug looked almost confused, declining questions from reporters with a murmured “Not now, please.” Chat Noir was silent, watching his defeated enemy with an expression so cold and angry that the reporters steered clear and the police even seemed wary of what he might do.

Then he moved. Four quick strides and he was standing in the path of Gabriel and the officers escorting him. “Wait.”

They stopped, Mr. Agreste looking at him sullenly, a trickle of blood from his nose where the black-garbed hero had punched him at the last. The police escort looked at each other nervously, then glanced at their superior for guidance.

“I am not going to hurt him. I am not even going to touch him. But I want to ask him a question before you take him away. You owe me that much.”

Lieutenant Roger, in charge of the scene due to long familiarity, gave a cautious nod at that. Chat stepped forward, into the fashion mogul’s personal space. In a flat, clear voice he asked,

“Why.”

Gabriel turned his head and spat out some blood, working his tongue against a broken tooth. “Why?”

“Why do all this? Why did you do it?”

“For my son.”

“_WHAT?!”_

Chat’s angry yell brought several of the officers forward to intervene, but he just raised one clawed hand to ward them off, glaring at the man who was Hawkmoth.

“I did it for my son! You would never understand!”

The boy took a deep breath, then another, clearly upset. Finally, “Look at me. Look at me, father.”

“Fa...what?!”

“Claws In!”

A bright green flash, and Gabriel jerked his head away, closing his eyes, refusing to see what the cameras saw. What the whole world saw. But that anguished voice would not let him be.

** _“LOOK AT ME!”_ **

“Ladybug, please, mon dieu, get him out of here!”

“How many times have you _killed me?! Because I lost count!”_

“Kid? Kid! Don’t do this! This is not good for you!”

“I’ll try, Lieutenant! Adrien? Adrien, take my hand, we’re leaving, I’ll take you someplace safe....”

“Ladies and Gentlemen, you are watching it live: Hawkmoth was fighting his own son--Adrien Agreste!”

Adrien whirled at that, and the reporter stepped back, even as her cameraman zoomed in on his face, twisted with grief and rage. “Adrien Agreste is dead! My name is Chat Noir! PLAGG, CLAWS OUT!” A bright flash of green, and he was gone, bounding across the Seine.

“Adrien? CHAT! WAIT!” and a streak of red went after him. 

There was a brief moment of silence, and then the sobs of a man who finally understands he has lost everything. 

He did not speak again, even at his trial. 

His son became a baker.


End file.
